Calhoun, Simeon H.

1. 1 oration delivered

July

4, 1829,

before the

faculty and student

s of

Williams

College.

:'illiams town, 1829.

far the founding ef a College ou tffifj§olonyf'

'T^LE«¥JMU¥ISI^SIir¥o

0
A*'

ORATIOM

DELIVERED JULY 4, i$29,

BEFOBE THE

^AOTMT AIT® SVWD&inft

WILLIAMS COLLEGE,

BY SIMEON H. CALHOUN.

afflttUtamntotDn:
PRINTED BY HIDLEY B AKNISTER.

1829.

To Mr. S. H. Calhoun,
Beak Sir, — Agreeably to a vote passed at a meeting of College th»
day, we present you their thanks for the Oration delivered by you on th»
4th inst : and request a copy for the press. G. A. WILLIAMS,) Confr-

Wiltiams CoUege, July 7, 1829.

S. H. LYMAN, > mit-
E. T. MACK. ) tee.

Reply. Williams CoUege, July 8, 1829.
Gentlemen, — Whela the idea of publishing my address was first sug
gested, there appeared to me to be an impropriefy in it. The occasion on
which it was delivered is one on which so many of our ablest pens have been
employed, that little new or interesting matter can be expected from any
— much less from an undergraduate. This circumstance will, I trust, be a
sufficient apology for its many imperfections.
S. H. CALHOUN.

ORATION.

The declaration of independence has
just been read, — that magician's wand which
by its mystic influence struck into existence a
mighty nation. To commemorate the events that
followed the adoption of this instrument, we are
now assembled. A day of jubilee has come ; — a
day the report of which will echo in the ears of
mankind till a sound more awful shall awake, the
dead. On another anniversary of our national ex
istence, we have met to lay our thank offerings on
the altar of freedom. Our bosoms glow not with
that patriotism which is excited by the fumes of
wine ; but with a patriotism more pure, more ho
ly, — a patriotism mingled with gratitude to the
God of our country. On such an occasion it is
good to lay aside our tamer habits of thinking, and
indulge the feelings ofthe heart. It is good to
transport ourselves back to those days when our
fathers and our country were enveloped in gloom.
The mind enjoys a pleasing but melancholy sat-

isfaction as it recounts the exploits of the senate
and of the field,-— as in imagination it listens to
the thunderings of patriotic eloquence in the
" cradle of liberty," and to the more awful thun
derings of cannon on the heights of Charlestown.
Such reflections are useful. A vivid conception
of the scenes of that day when our independence
was declared, is calculated to awaken the nobler
feelings of the soul, and if rightly improved, to
make us wiser and better. A full sense of the
sufferings of those who poured out their blood like
water, will teach us to value more highly the her
itage which they have bequeathed to tis. In such
feelings and reflections I should love to indulge,
I should love, did time permit, to go with you in
fancy to Bunker Hill and Saratoga and Yorktown,
and fight over again the battles of the revolution.
I should love to go to the council chamber, and
bring out before you our Washingtons, our Han
cocks, our Adamses, and our Jeffersons.. Vener
able men ! Methinks I see them now, and in their
countenances the anxiety and firmness of their
souls. \
At this time, when every heart is bounding with
joy, and every tongue is vocal in the praise of free^
dom, it may not be uninteresting to dwell for a
moment on the intimate connexion there is be
tween liberty and knowledge. The history of past
ages proves that, tp be free, a nation must be en
lightened. And if the constitution of our nature
is such that freedom and intelligence are insepa-

fable, it becomes a question of infinite importance,
whether, in aiding those who are struggling for lib
erty, we shall not render a more essential service,
by diffusing knowledge, than by supplying imple
ments of war.
The connexion already spoken, of, has its foun
dation in nature. If the intellectual powers are
not developed, or in other words, if one is ignorant
that he possesses them, they will remain, like the
oak in the acorn, without vigour, without life.
Such faculties are as useless to their possessor, as
implements would be to an artizan who knew not
iheir use. Whole nations are to be found in which
the operations of the moral faculty are scarcely
discernible; others, in which the faculty of reason
seems to be in embryo. Let but a ray of light
break in upon the darkness of those minds, — let
them know that they possess the power of distin
guishing truth from falsehood, right from wrong,
and they are set free forever. You may as well
chain the ocean, as stop the operation of faculties
that have been once developed. Man possesses
not the power to stop even the current of his own
thoughts. Now political freedom cannot exist un
less the mind is free, and the mind cannot be free
unless it can act, and the mind cannot act unless
its powers are developed. Let a person then be
deprived of an unrestrained use of his faculties, or
which is the same thing, let him be ignorant that
he possesses them, and he becomes the veriest
.slave on earth. The enlightened understanding

6
will not brook compulsion. Have you an enlight
ened servant ? you may lead, but you can never
drive him. It is the ignorant slave only that yields
without resistance. Hence we may deduce a fact,
which history abundantly c'oroborates, that no na
tion can be reduced to servitude at once : the pro
cess must be gradual. The strength of a nation
may be broken ; she may quail before the superior
force of an enemy ; she may even be rendered trib
utary : but as long as a spirit of knowledge reigns
within, she will not be a slave. Arms may con
quer, but they can never enslave her. One gen
eration at least must pass away : seminaries of
learning must be overthrown : the minds of the
people must be darkened. Then comes the aw
ful moment. Then all is prepared for slavery, for
a Grecian slavery, — a slavery worse than death.
These remarks are strikingly illustrated in the
revolutions that have taken place in the United
States, in South America, and in Greece. In alj,
these countries, the resistance of encroachments
has been in proportion to the amount of intelli
gence diffused.
The British colonies were settled by emigrants
who knew their rights, and knowing, were deter
mined to maintain them. Though they possessed
the name of colonies, their inhabitants felt them
selves to be Englishmen, and entitled to the same
privileges that were enjoyed in the parent country.
From the first landing ofthe pilgrims, to the glo
rious consummation in 1783, the torch of liberty

and the torch of knowledge, though they occasion
ally flickered, never for a moment went out. They
burned on with a brighter and a brighter flame,
till the world was dazzled by their rays. Ration
al freedom had hitherto been a stranger on the
earth. The spirit of liberty, when awakened, had
soon degenerated into the spirit of anarchy ; and
anarchy invariably paved the way for tyranny. It
was here that liberty was purified of its grossness.
The present prosperity of this nation is owing
to the wisdom and intelligence of its founders.
Had it been the intention of England to hold us
forever as colonies,— had any other than the short
sighted James been on the throne, the Puritans
would never have been suffered to land in Ameri
ca. The country would have been settled by
transported criminals, such as are now sent to
Botany-rbay, — by. men who would peaceably sub
mit to every burden that England might impose.
The character of the Puritans was a sufficient
pledge that North America would never yield to
oppression. In all this the hand of Providence is- visible.
America seems to have been destined in the coun
cils of heaven to be the place where the genius of
liberty should revive; where the experiment of
self-government should be tried ; an experiment
whose influence will go on till aU the thrones of
Christendom decay. Our nation had from its
commencement been distinguished for its patriot
ism, inteUigence, and virtue : and as the time for

s
the struggle which ended in our independence was
approaching, a host of patriots started into exist
ence, to counsel and direct her. They seem to
have been sent as a special gift from heaven, to
bear. us in safety through the perils of the revolu
tion. And when the victory was complete, they
put forth their energies to establish a government,
which, while it should secure us from the encroach
ments of tyranny, should also preserve us from
the lawlessness of licentious liberty.
An argument for the dissolution of our govern
ment has been drawn from the fate of the repub
lics that preceded it. We are told that the Spar
tan, Athenian, and Roman republics— though they
hardly deserve the name — had not sufficient ener
gy to sustain themselves ; and the conclusion is,
that the day of our departure is at hand. If our
government ever meets the fate of those that have
gone before it, it will be through the operation of
other causes than those which hastened the down
fall of the ancient republics. With me the won
der is, not that those governments were not im
mortal, but that they survived so long. The an
cient systems and ours agree only in name. In the
early republics the mass of the people was igno
rant, in ours it is enlightened. In the days of
Greece and Rome, the science of government was
in its infancy, yea, it was in embryo ; in these
days it is in full maturity. The principle of rep- <
resentation, which has grown up with the progress
of society, has removed all the evils which caused

the overthrow of the ancient republics: Legisla
tion is now carried on, not by an ignorant mob
under the influence of passion and interest, but by
a few, — and those few selected from millions of
virtuous and intelligent freemen. These two cir
cumstances then, the general diffusion of know
ledge, and the perfection to which the science of
government is carried, create a broad distinction
between our system and all former ones. If the
government of the United States is ever prostrat
ed, its downfall will be owing to a gradual devia
tion from the principles of its founders, and to a
general laxity of morals. These evils avoided,
and our constitution will be as unperishing as the
fame of its framers.
How different has been the fate of South Amer
ica. That country was settled by ignorance and
barbarism ; and its inhabitants for a while peace
ably submitted to the exactions of the king of
Spain. The groans of the Indian and the groans
of the colonist were carried across the Atlantic
with every breeze, but they passed by the oppres
sor unheeded. Years rolled on, and the chain of
the tyrant was unloosed, the sufferings of the cap
tive were unmitigated.
But the day of reckoning was at hand. A ray
of light had beamed upon the mental darkness of
those southern wastes ; and in a moment the clan
gour of war was heard from Mexico to Patago
nia. The whole country flew to arms ; and after

10
a long and terrible conflict freed itself from the
dominion ofthe tyrant Ferdinand.
However much we may regret the misfortunes
of individuals, we can never regret those that have
befallen the cruel and relentless government of
Spain. That nation had waded through blood to
the mines of South America ; she had gone on in
creasing in guilt at every step ; but by a righteous
judgment of heaven, her ill-gotten gain was made
the means of her own destruction.
The republics of South America are now se
cure from foreign force ; but they have an enemy
within more unconquerable than a world in arms.
That enemy is ignorance — and until it is dispelled,
their freedom will be but another name for faction
and disorder.
But I see a light beyond the ocean. It is the
torch of liberty burning on the hills of Greece.
And how fares it with thy long-blighted fields,
abused, insulted Greece 1 Land of heroes and of
statesmen, of story and of song, — land over which
genius first hovered, but where genius is smother
ed in ignorance, and patriotism chilled by oppres
sion,— how fares it with thee ? Does the foot of
the tyrant still tread on thy neck 1 Does the
blackness of moral darkness still brood over thee ?
Has the blood of patriots and sages ceased to flow
in thy veins ? Has thine ancient spirit fled 1
And Greece from beyond the ocean answers—
My ancient spirit is revived. The power of the

11
tyrant is broken ; and after a night of four hun
dred years, I have awaked as from the sleep of
the grave. The genius of freedom has returned to
his native soil, — but he gropes his way in dark
ness. O happy, independent America, impart to
me thy knowledge, and I shall be free forever.
Fellow citizens — shall the cry of Greece be un
heeded ? She calls not for arms, — she calls not
for food, but for knowledge which giveth life. If
the philanthropist sighs for a field of exertion, let
him go to those desolate shores. Greece enlight
ened, and a world cannot enslave her ; Greece in
ignorance, and a world cannot keep her free. For
myself, I want no other grave than that hallowed
land can afford. I should love to lay my bones on
that soil where bleach the bones of Leonidas and
Bozzaris. In the cause of Greek education I
should love to live ; in that cause I should love to
die. And though no mother should lean over my
dying couch, — no sister close my dying eye,— nor
youthful friend follow my lifeless tenement to the
tomb ; I should still have the consolation of tak
ing my flight from the soil which was wet with
the tears, and drenched in the blood of Christian
martyrs. The world will finally be free. It may be by
blood. It probably will be by blood. But it will
be free. The movements on the Eastern conti
nent during the present century betoken a stirring
and heaving of the elements of liberty, and foretel
the approach, of a tremendous crisis. Whatever

12
¦May be the opinion of others, I hold it morally
certain, that unless the principles on which most
of the European governments proceed, are modi
fied, the whole fabric of society in Europe will be
dissolved. The light has already shot athwart
the ocean from the west, and is now every where
at work in driving out the darkness of centuries.
Knowledge has commenced her triumphant march
through the universe, lighting liberty onward to
glory. These glimmerings are the harbinger of a
bloody perhaps, but glorious dawn. Let us hail
the succeeding day, — the day when Europe and
Asia and Africa shall be disenthralled, regene
rated. Would that the day were already here.
Would that this joyous anniversary were ushered
in with all the glory of a political millennium, —
with an eternal emancipation from tyrants and op
pression. For the mighty revolutions which are soon to
burst on our view, it behooves us to prepare.
Sons of Williams, awake to your high destiny.
Ere the next generation shall pass away, you will
hear the first blast of the trump of universal free
dom. And shall a world be emancipated without
enlisting our sympathies and prayers ? Have we
no part to act in these great scenes ? We have a
fearful part to act. Our country is the pillar of
fire to guide all nations through the gloom and
peril of revolutions into the peaceful haven of liberty.
But in order to guide others, we must ourselves
be right. If virtue and liberty expire here, the

13
world may " hail horror and eternal night." As
educated men — as those who are soon to stand at
the helm of this government, I call upon you to
look well to your country's liberties. Let not the
frivolities of youth, — let not even your eagerness
in the pursuit of other sciences, deter you from
studying well the science of government. Talk
not of liberty as a hypocrite talks of his religion —
but feel its importance. Go on in the path that
has been marked out for you by your illustrious
ancestors. Live like them for freedom ; and for
freedom be ready to die. Acting thus, throne af
ter throne may crumble, system after system may
be demolished ; you will ride the storm in safety.
And when the conflict is over, though you may
be gathered to the dust of your fathers, your chil
dren will shout hosannas in a world which you
?have emancipated.

ORATION

DELIVERED JULY 4, 1829,

BEFORE THE

WILLIAMS COLLEGE.

BY GILES B. KELLOGG

WLUUamstoton:
PRINTED BT RIDLEY BANNISTER,
1829.

WiUiams College, July 6, 1829?
Dear Sir, — At a meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society of Williams'
College, we were directed to present you their thanks for the oration you:
delivered on the 4th jnstant, and to request a copy for publication.
G. A. WILLIAMS,
S. H. LYMAN,
E. T. MACK.
Mr. Giles B. Kellogg.

Gentlemen, — Accept, for yourselves and the Society, my acknowl
edgments for the favorable opinion expressed of the oration delivered on'
the 4th instant. I comply with their request with diffidence. The ora
tion has no claims to originality. But with all its faults I submit it to
your discretion.
G. B. KELLOGG.
Messrs. G. A. Williams,
S. H. Lyman,
E. T. Mack.
Williams College, July 1, 1829.

ORATION.

We have come up hither to make ah
offering of thanksgiving to the Omnipotent, and to
render a grateful tribute to the memory of our fa
thers. And while we rejoice in the unnumbered
blessings conferred on us by Heaven, through the
instrumentality of those fathers, let us not be un
mindful of the claims of justice and humanity.
We ought to remember that the happiness we en
joy is not universal. This will temper our exul
tation and render more heart-felt our tribute of
gratitude. We have heard this day of the vices
and crimes which pervade our land ; setting at
naught all laws, human, and divine; brutalizing
the man, and making barbarity more barbarous.
The tale is not yet finished. There are those
among us who are shut out from the light of
freedom, chained down in the prisonhouse of bon
dage, |\ " where peace
And rest never dwell, hope never cornea
That comes to all ; but torture without end
Still urges ;"
those, of common origin with ourselves, inheritors

4
of the same great blessings, heirs to the same im
mortality. I invite your attention to the subject of negro
slavery. The occasion will allow us only to glance
at its introduction among us, the measures which
have since' been taken to remove the evil, and to
suggest some motives why we should aid the Col
onization Society. I am the more ready and wil
ling to enter upon the first topic, because the En
glish writers have made the existence of domestic
slavery in this country the ground of severe abuse
of the United States. They have called it " the
great curse of America^ the consummation of
wickedness, admitting of no sort of apology from
our situation;" with many other hard names to
which their own compunctions of conscience would
easily help them. I am willing that the Ameri
cans should be treated as they deserve for partici
pating in this horrid traffic ; further than this I
cannot go. I am willing to call this institution
"a curse and a damning crime," but I shall as
cribe its origin to a very different people, than the
British writers are fond of doing. In pursuing
this subject, therefore, I hope to commit the sin
of telling the truth, the whole truth, fall where it
may. Much as I deprecate the present unhappy state*
of feeling between Great Britain and this-^ountry,
and the unwarrantable measures, which some em
ploy to keep it alive ; much as I admire and vene
rate the splendid talents, the learning, and wisdom

5
which the mother isle has produced, I would be
the last to exhort the Americans to a truce in this
contest, provoked as they have been, and unatori-
ed as the injustice done them still remains. I
would have them cling to the great law of self-
defence, If Englishmen, " who have travelled far ind sailed
To purchase human flesh ; to wreath the yoke
Of vassalage on savage liberty ;
To suck large fortunes from the sweat of slaves
And with refined knavery to cheat,
Politely villainous, untutored men ;"
charge upon us their own guilt, I would indig
nantly repel the charge.
England first engaged in the slave-trade in
1562, in the reign of Elizabeth, and regarded it as
lawful commerce until March 1808. During all
this period, except the time when she was deeply
involved in war, this trade was an important
branch of her commerce, carried on either by char
tered companies or by individuals. During this
time also her American dominions were discover
ed and settled. As soon as the settlements were
in a tolerable state of forwardness, our shores
were blackened with her slave-ships. As if it
were not enough to drive her sons from their
homes by religious intolerance, she would make
them partakers in her own eternal infamy. Her
plea was to prevent emigration from the mother
country and to increase her revenue. Negroes
were first imported into Virginia in 1621, and into

6
the New England Colonies, in 1630. Slavery
was from the first discouraged, especially in New
England. Popular opinion, so far as it could be
expressed, was decidedly against it. The colo
nists regarded it unjust, to bring their fellow beings
into the same condition from which they had escap
ed. Consequently it never existed in this part of
the country to a great extent. The people fre
quently passed resolutions against it. The Gene
ral Court of Massachusetts in 1645, made a law
which "prohibited the buying and selling of
slaves." In 1703, the same Court imposed a
heavy duty on every negro imported. This did
not drive the slave-vessels from our ports, and they
proceeded to take more effectual measures. No
act, however, which amounted to a prohibition
could obtain the sanction of the royal governors,
for they had it in " express command from the
British Cabinet to reject all laws of that descrip
tion." The efforts of the friends of abolition
were ceaseless, and as unavailing. In 1703, in
1767, and 1774, bills were introduced, unani
mously passed, and successively annulled by the
governor. In the latter year an act was passed,
" to prevent the importation of negroes and others,
as slaves into this province," and laid before Gov.
Hutchinson for his approbation. The assembly
immediately received a harsh and contemptuous
answer, and a notice of prorogation, "for wishing
him to disregard the nod of his lord and master
the king." Such was the course of proceeding

in all the New England provinces.' The governor
of a neighboring state received the following in
struction : " You are not to give your assent to,
or pass any law imposing duties on negroes im
ported into New Hampshire." Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, and Virginia, treading in the foot
steps ofthe New England colonies, met with as
little success. No less than twenty -three attempts
are recorded in the Legislative proceedings of Vir
ginia, to effect abolition during her colonial vas
salage, besides numerous petitions to parliament
and the king. In short, no conduct of America
before her independence, which in the least de
gree discountenanced the British traffic in human
flesh met with any approbation in the mother coun
try. That long introductory chapter of America's
history, is crowded with tales of barbarous op
pression. It is written in blood, in the blood alike
of the innocent and guilty.
Before we open the volume of our independence
to proceedings, the praise or blame of which falls
on ourselves, let us pause and review the period
over which we have slightly passed. We have
seen that the crime of instituting slavery in this
country lies entirely at the door of Great Britain.
" We," said Pitt, on the floor of parliament,
when the question of abolition was agitated, " we
stopped the natural progress of civilization in Af
rica. We cut her off from the opportunity of im
provement. We kept her down in a state of dark
ness, bondage, ignorance and bloodshed." " The

8
broad mantle of this one infamy," said Mr. Beau-
foy at the same time, " will cover with substantial
blackness the radiance of your glory, and change
to feelings of abhorrence the present admiration
ofthe world."
Perhaps the admirers of England will say,
slavery never would have existed here if the colo
nists had not encouraged it. Slaves would not
have been brought here, if there had not been a
ready market for them. Without stopping to urge
in vindication of the colonists the example of the
mother country, their ignorance of the manner in
which the slaves were obtained, and the vindica
tion constantly urged that the species was inferior,
it is recorded in history, " they durst not. reject
them." Great Britain sent them here to sup
ply the place of emigrants from home, with the
authoritative tone, " receive them, or abide by the
fate to which the savage native may doom you."
It is well-known too, that many of the New-Eng-
landers bought slaves that they might save the pub-1-
lie from the nuisance of a vagabond race, and that
they might give them religious instruction. If
the Southern planter, inhabiting a climate noto
riously destructive to the European constitution,
and constantly liable to incursions from the sav
age, reduced to a state of subjection a part of our
race who could safely endure labor in that climate,
and at the same time give the owner leisure to de
fend his possessions and attend to affairs of state,
if he brought into bondage a race of men whom

9
he was taught to regard as formed by nature for
servants to the white man, a race in short which
was forced upon him, it would not seem beyond
the bounds of reason and duty to defend him from
the charge of inconsistency, cruelty and murder.
If these considerations are not suflicient to justify
the conduct of our fathers, we have their defence
written in capitals on the scroll of our indepen
dence. Iri the draft of the Declaration which Mr.
Jefferson drew up, among the charges preferred
against the king, as the representative ofthe na
tion, we find the following : " Determined to keep
open a market where Men should be bought and
sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppres
sing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to re
strain this execrable commerce. And that this as
semblage of horrours might want no fact of dis
tinguished die, he is now exciting those very peo
ple to rise in arms among us and to purchase that
liberty of which he has deprived them, by murder
ing the people upon whom he also obtruded them :
thus paying off former crimes committed against
the liberties of one people, with crimes which he
urges, them to commit against the lives of anoth
er." This, with other sentences, was struck out
before the declaration was adopted by Congress;'
not because;, it was untrue, but because it was
deemed inexpedient to add to the black catalogue
of charges. That it was true may be gathered
from the fact that the same is recorded in the con
stitutions of several of the states ; and that it was

10
stated, uncontradicted, in parliament by Burke as
a reason why the colonies rebelled.
During the revolutionary struggle it was not to
be expected much could be done to eradicate the
evil of slavery. Nor from the character and con
duct of the colonists, would any one suppose them
so carried away by the enthusiasm of the times as
to declare all free and independent. It would
have been well for their enemies, had they sent
forth an act of universal emancipation. England
would have thanked them for their folly. The
case of the degraded African however was not for
gotten. The Legislature of Virginia, at the very
first session held under the republican government,
passed a law for the perpetual prohibition of the
importation of slaves. In 1780, a gradual eman
cipation was decreed by Massachusetts. The
same was also done near the same time, by all
that part of the Union north of the state of Dela
ware. For many important reasons, the power to regu
late the condition and disposition of slaves in the
United States never was given to the national
government. It is an internal affair of the indi
vidual states, a trust too sacred to be deposited in
the hands of Congress, where the better judgment
might be swayed by mistaken feelings, to the ma
terial injury to parts of the country. As a nation
therefore we are not answerable for the present
existence of slavery or the treatment of slaves*:
The views of the general government, howeverr

11
so far as it was allowed to act, may be learnt
from its proceedings. When Massachusetts, Con
necticut, New- York, and Virginia, ceded to the
United States their respective claims to the terri
tory lying north-west of the river Ohio, Congress
immediately enacted an ordinance for the govern
ment of said territory; in which it is declared,
that there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, otherwise than in punishment for crimes
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.
This ordinance was unanimously voted for by
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia, without whom it could not have been
passed. The law by which Congress prohibited
the slave-trade, took effect in January, 1808. Va
rious acts were afterwards passed to carry the
law into niore effectual operation. In 1819 pro
vision was made for the residence of agents on
the coast of Africa, to further the views of the
government. In 1820 it was enacted that " every
person proved to be engaged in the slave-trade is
guilty of piracy and shall be punished with
death." The plan of colonising the free people of colour
in some place remote from the United States, and
educating those in bondage with a view to col
onise them, originated in the legislature of Vir-,
ginia, in a committee of which Mr. Jefferson was
the head, in 1777. Owing to the peculiar cir
cumstances in which the country was then placed,
the plan was not at once earned into effect; but

12
it was never relinquished. In December 1816,
the legislature adopted a resolution requesting tho
executive to correspond with the president of the
United States for the purpose of obtaining a ter
ritory on the coast of Africa, or some other con
venient place, to be settled by coloured emigrants.
Similar resolutions were also passed by Mary
land, Tennessee, and Georgia. And in Decem
ber of the same year, the American Colonisation
Society was formed.
I have been thus minute in noting whatever has
transpired in the slave holding states, in ridding
our country of this evil, that their sentiments may
be justly appreciated. They regard it as an in-;
stitution to be abolished as soon as the safety of
the public and the good of its victims will permit.
It may be well to add,, that the design of the Col
onisation Society has met with approbation and
support at the south ; and that its original mem
bers were principally southern gentlemen.
We have hitherto, in tracing the abolition of
slavery from our countryj been able to console
ourselves with the reflection that the evil was en
tailed upon us by another nation ; that all indi
vidual and legislative means have been used to
arrest it ; and that its continuance was unavoida
ble. We can plead that excuse no longer. It
would have been well for our national character
and the hopes of freemen, had nothing been re
corded to blacken this page in our history. But
to the disgrace of American legislation it must be

13
said, Congress gave its consent to the extension of
this deadly, damning disease ; the very year too
in which it declared the trade piratical and pun
ishable with death. The deed was a terrible fall-
ing-off from feeling and humanity. It gave an
awful pause to the progress of freedom. It cast
a blighting -mildew upon our youhg strength; a
sickness, a rottenness of heart which years can
not remedy, which time itself, it may be, cannot
repair. I refer to the passing of the Missouri
Bill. We all remember with what indignant feel
ings we received the news. We would not de
fend the defenders of this measure. We would
uncover them to the combined outpouring of eve
ry free voice in Christendom. We cannot now
think of the great men who spoke in opposition to
the restriction of this Bill, while we allow their
arguments some degree of plausibility, without
sorrow mingled with contempt; sorrow at the
wound inflicted on the cause of justice, contempt
at the prostitution of influence and talents. We
can give no countenance to this proceeding. We
can look with complacency, nay we can rejoice
at the admission of new states into the family of
the Union. When such new states are formed
out of others, they cannot be admitted without
the consent of the parent ones ; and the latter, if
they tolerate slavery, undoubtedly have a right to
insist on its toleration also in the new ones. Con
gress in this case inust take other things into the
account; but its refusal to admit such states

14
without the prohibition of slavery, would not aid
the cause of free institutions, inasmuch as neces
sity requires the toleration of an evil already
existing and unavoidable. The rejection of the
Missouri bill, without the restriction, would have
been no invasion of state-rights. Congress was
obligated to no one. It possessed the territory.
and had an opportunity to benefit the cause of
freedom. It neglected it. We would have saved
that soil from contamination. We would have
made the Mississippi impassable to the manacled
victim. We would have confined the curse to
its eastern shores. Whoever passed its waters^,
like those who forded the fabled river of purgato
ry, should have been washed and purified.
Such, Gentlemen of the Anti-Slavery Society,
is a general view of the introduction of domestic
servitude into our country, and the measures
which have been taken to eradicate it. In speak
ing of this subject, I have endeavored Jto do jus
tice to all parties concerned. I would screen no
American from the contempt which he deserves
for engaging in the slave-trade. I know that
some of our countrymen participated in its profits
before we took our stand among the nations, and
I would throw upon them a merited portion of its
guilt. But that nation which, by monopolising,
sought to exclude all others from the trade, I
would represent as covered with crimes of no or
dinary die. I know that there were men in this
country, as there have been in all others, of

15
broken fortunes and ruined characters, who sac
rificed all interest and feeling at the shrine of
gain. I know there have been cases since of this
wickedness, which have escaped the vigilance of
government. Its deeds are evil, and it has work
ed in darkness. I know that unnecessary cruelty
has been inflicted, and still is inflicted, by us. I
have heard of the hardness of heart which this
practice brings, and the iron foldings with which
it shuts up its avenues. And I could exclaim
with Jefferson, " I tremble for my country when
I reflect that God is just ; that his justice cannot
sleep for ever." But I cannot consent, out of
love to the native land of our forefathers, to
turn traitor, and set in more miserable relief than
truth warrants, American cruelties and American
guilt. It remains to consider some of the motives
which address themselves to us as scholars, as
American scholars, to lend our aid to the Coloni
sation Society. I say to the Colonisation Socie
ty, for the plan of that society is the best and the
only successful one which has yet been proposed.
It is the only plan which is likely to succeed.
Every other has been thoroughly examined and
found defective. This also has undergone equal
scrutiny, and been put to the test of experience.
Thus far the experiment has proved successful.
It has met with the approval of al| those who
have interested themselves in this subject, of all,;
I, may justly say, who have at heart the good of

16
their country and the happiness of their race.
The object and interests of this society, its im
portance and success, have been too-often pre
sented, and are too well-known, to need from me
particular mention. It is enough for us to know
that the highest hopes of its founders have been
Cully realised. It is enough for us to know that
this is the only way in which we can serve the
degraded, insulted, enslaved African, and avert
the fearful doom that hangs over our land. It is
enough for us to know that the field is white and
ready for the harvest, and that we are called upon
as Christians, as patriots, as Americans, as scho
lars who are going forth to act on the mass of so
ciety, to administer the cup of consolation and
hope, or infuse into it the poison of despair, to
exert a protecting and healing influence in the
world, or plunge the dagger to its vitals, to lay
hold of this work heart and hand. ¦
If we consider the series of events that led to
the discovery of this country, the time and man
ner of its settlement ; if we consider the Ameri
can revolution, its actors, the principles and
rights that hung upon the issue of the contest ;
if we consider the result of that contest, the im
portant experiment which was commenced before
the face of the whole world; if we consider a
government like ours merely in the abstract, the
various, comprehensive, and complicated interests
that enter into its formation, the regular distribu
tion of power- into distinct departments, the intro-

17
duction of legislative checks and balances, the
necessity of creating no distinction other than
merit confers, the whole panorama, in short, of
the science of legislation ; they will all be found
intimately connected with our subject, and to hold
out powerful motives to active exertion in this
cause. They will be found to call loudly upon
us, as those who are appointed in the order
of Providence to guide the nations to political
and religious independence; as those who are
intrusted with an inheritance rich and invaluable,
but as those who may dash man's bright hopes,
poison the very air he breathes, blot out his very
sun from heaven.
We are to shed about us an important influ
ence. It may not be that human affairs are to
receive a new turn from us, or that the happiness
or existence of any community depends upon any
exertions of ours. But great results have not al
ways proportionate causes. Our influence, com
bined with that of others, may go to the perpetu
ation or entire subversion of the political systems
intrusted to us. The road to ruin is easy of
descent ; and if once the watchfulness of the in
fluential slumbers ; if their talent and opinions
are enlisted against the interests of society; if
the nation is rocked into security while the giant
evil of slavery, or any other, is growing up, wo
to the freedom pnd independence of our institu
tions ; wo to the folly that nourishes the viper in
its bosom. Let us see to it that our influence be

IS
felt ; that it be not deadly to the interests of our
common parent. Let us see to it that the story
of our country, through neglect of its preserva
tion, be not added to the few faint beacon-lights
that glare upon us from the page of history. Let
us see to it that we have no part in calling down
upon our memory the bitter curses of coming
generations. But it is not the responsibility pressing upon us
as the inheritors of a free and happy form of go
vernment, as the almoners of a goodly heritage,
only, that ought to regulate our conduct. There
are other motives higher and nobler, because
more extensive and lasting in their effects ; holier,
because more disinterested. They are the ap
peals of two millions of fellow creatures to our
benevolence ; they are the claims of despised,
deserted Africa. If there is a man on earth who
deserves to be called great and good, it is he whose
love embraces all men and whose heart is touched
at the sight of human wo. It is he who, through
greatness of principle, breasts, with invincible cour
age the storms of opposition, and sacrifices life and
honor to the relief of humanity. It is he who
goes, like Scott's hero, to search out the graves
of martyrs to freedom and benevolence, to re-etch
inscriptions to their worth upon their tomb-stones,
and to point them out as eminent examples for
imitation. It is he, who goes forth, (as was said
of the great English philanthropist,) to dive into
the depths of dungeons, to plunge into the infec-

19
tion of hospitals, to survey the mansions of sor
row and pain, to take the gage and dimensions of
misery, depression, and contempt.
But Africa has claims to urge ; claims upon
our justice and humanity; claims uponthe justice
and humanity ofthe whole civilised world. They
are founded upon the cruelties, the atrocities
which all have inflicted upon her. They come
attested by her groans. They fall upon the ear
in accents of thunder, demanding the payment of
her due, and pointing to the fearful consequences
of neglect. They demand the return of her chil
dren. They show the advantages to be derived
as well to the land that holds her sons in bondage
as to herself. " Every emigrant to Africa," they
insist in the language of Mr. Clay, " is a missiona
ry, carrying with him credentials in the holy cause
of civilization, religion, and free institutions."
And they hold forth the duty and necessity of
contributing our substance and influence to aid in
obtaining her long lost blessings and rights.
I might present other motives. I might come
nearer home and appeal to your self-love. I might
tell of the honour of standing side by side in the
sacred cause with the Wilberforces, the Pitts,
and Burkes of other «days ; and with the Can
nings, the Broughams, and the Clays, of our
own. But I forbear. If it is not fame enouglj to
be instrumental in preserving, increasing, and
transmitting the rich inheritance we have receiv
ed in trust from our fathers ; if the gratification

20
*>f the purest) the holiest feelings of the human
heart is not reward enough; if it is not glory
enough to be the assertors and stern defenders of
the claims of oppressed and injured Africa; I
will press the matter no farther. I should be
ashamed of the American who asked for higher
excitements, if higher could be found. Upon that
man, who shuts himself up in the narrow cham
ber of self, in this age of extended and benevo
lent exertion, who looks not out upon the march
of improvement, who opens not his heart to the
pleas of misery, who puts not forth his hand to
forward the well-being of society, I would not
waste words to gain his co-operation. I would
jiot break in upon his happiness. I would not
knock at the door of his heaven. I would leave
him to go down to his grave unwept, and repose
in lasting and merited oblivion. But I am not
addressing such. I am addressing men of more
.compassion, of more liberal views. The very ex
istence of your association proves the importance
.which you attach to the African's claims and
wrongs. Permit me then, in behalf of two millions of
that race, in behalf of the whole of that race, to
suggest the manner in which you can best serve
the cause. Gold and silver I ask not. There is
a ttiightier agency. It is by sowing plentifully
the seminal principles of a virtuous education ; it
is by multiplying intellect through the medium of
,the press ; it is by cleansing the fountain-head of
public opinion, by guiding the stream and open-

21
ing new channels of pure, healthful waters to'feed
it ; it is by teaching just moral sentiments, iffy
parting kindling truths to kindred minds ; it is by
forming intellectual conspiracies and storming the
enemy's works that man's deliverance from slave
ry is to be accomplished. Public opinion is om
nipotent ; and it only needs a master spirit to di
rect it and mines of wealth will be opened. Fear
not the censure of men. There will be those
whose slumbers you will break, who would have
slept to eternity for all exerting themselves in
the cause of human freedom and improvement,
and who will mutter curses. Better to be too anx
ious than repose in too confident a security. Bet
ter to be despised for too zealous and benevolent
activity, than fall in with the views of the idle and
selfish. Far better to seek the approbation of
God and conscience, than to lead the life of a
brute, a worm, an ephemeron.
The field of your labor is open, and you have
entered it in the youth and vigour and spring-time
of your being. May you not act unworthily ; un
worthy of your high descent, unworthy of your
country $ unworthy of your great destination.
May you faint not, nor falter in this holy war;
a war waged against ignorance and cruelty, the
war of the philanthropist, the war of the age.
Go on, for the fight has already commenced and
the enemy is rousing and bringing up his reserve
to the onset. Go on fearlessly and manfully.
The expiring sighs of those, who have labored

22-
-and suffered/in the cause, invite, the Spirit of the
times, invites.
" A world breaking from its iron chains,,
And like a giant struggling to be free,"
invites. *
' " Ye seek the wreath of fame ; — toil on, toil on ;
When ye are sepulchred, others will bring its flowers
And strew them plenteougly upon your graves."

Note. — The author wishes to. state that in, the hurry of composition
he neglected to preserve references fo the book where each fact above
quoted may be found ; and such is now the nature of his engagements
that he is not able to note the authorities on the margins of the respec
tive pages where they are referred to. He therefore, by request mentions!
them in this note.  -,-« % ..'¦•)
Authorities referred to in the preceding discourse! — S-CJarksoh's
History of the Abolition of the Slave Trade,, by the British Parliament —
Walsh's Appeal — Edward's History of the West Indies— Marshall's His
tory of the Colonies — Davenant's Works, vol. 5 — Robertson — Stith—
Belknap — Massachusetts Historical fcollection, vol. 4 — Gordon's His
tory of the American Revolution, vol. 5 — Virginia Laws — Judge Tucker's
Blackstone — Jeffersorj'sJlotes — Brougham's Colonial Policy — North A^
merican Review, vols. 10, 13, IS — Burke on Conciliation with America —
Pickering's Review — American Quarterly Review, vol. 1, 4— King's,
jSpeeqhes on the Missouri Bill— Rees's Cyclopedia, Article,, Virginia—
Cooper's Travelling Bachelor,, vol. 2.